


And so it begins (Ouroboros moves out)

by Mullk6



Series: The world unknown to us (except one, stop lording your knowledge over us, it got old after the first year) [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 3-year time-skip, Canon Era, Dimension Travel, Finally, First Mate is depressed, Fullmetal Alchemist References Everywhere, Fullmetal Alchemist references, Gen, She is the informant, She knows what's up in the world, She's a One Piece Fan, The Crew is from our world, The Crew was getting bored after sailing aimlessly for 8 years, They are aware that they create ripples, they counteract when possible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-01-04 05:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12162477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mullk6/pseuds/Mullk6
Summary: Three years and Straw Hat shenanigans later, the Ouroboros Pirates are sailing for the Grand line. First they need to wait for Smoker to leave Lougetown, though.Timeline #1





	1. This is how I die (laughing my ass off)

“Land Ho!” came the shout of a blond beauty with legs for miles, as some would say. Her blue jean short shorts were faded due to the constant exposure to the elements and her white tanktop was stained with gun oil. Her military-style boots had a good grip on the rigging as he hands grasped a rope in preparation to swing down, no longer needed up in the crow's nest.

This was Lisa, the 24-year old sniper of the Ouroboros, jokingly nicknamed “Hawkeye” due to reasons obvious to Fullmetal Alchemist fans. Which every single crewmember was. Honestly, they all found it hilarious that the only siblings on board could be nicknamed Ed and Al. Of course, their age-difference was much more pronounced, what with Edwina being 25 now and Alexia being 20. It had been a trying three years. Al's mood had been much darker with the tangible timeline in her hands, which also meant she knew exactly how close Thatch's death was.

But now, after three long years, the Ouroboros Pirates were finally able to set foot in Lougetown. With all the shenanigans going on in East Blue, Alex had said she knew for a fact that they could stay there for a while before leaving, so long as they kept a _very_ low profile. Easier said than done, but they'd practiced this a few times and hadn't gotten caught yet. All it took was a plaque over the real name of their ship and different clothing and they were completely inconspicuous.

Lisa touched down in front of her captain, a woman only one year her senior, but more than worthy of the hat, never mind that she wasn't even the oldest of the seven. Then again, she was also the only one who knew how to sail a ship, so there was little choice in the matter.

The blond put her hands on her hips and cocked her head “So, was there any particular reason for stopping here for a while or?”

Ed, who was clad in a rather plain black dress that went past her knees and black flats, her captain hat for now on her head, put away her spyglass as she answered “Honestly, I have no idea, Al said it was ok to go now and that she wanted to get there before the Strawhats leave. Which is why we are staying there for a while, maybe. She wasn't sure how long it will take Smoker to leave once he misses taking out Luffy, but we won't be there for long. Plus, there was something she wanted us to investigate before we leave.” the brunette shrugged “You know how she gets.”

Lisa nodded but added “Well, it's not exactly a bad trait to hoard information, especially here.”

Her captain nodded, taking her hat and tossing it over her shoulder to lay in a crate that was to be stored below deck “True. Prepare to dock!” she called, kicking the crate to the hatch, within reach of Jonas for him to stash down below, which he did when he next popped up from there.

Loguetown wasn't really anything special, but it was apparently one of the if not _the_ biggest city in East Blue. The crew had split up in order to not bring too much attention to themselves, not that that was much of a problem. They were very good at keeping a low profile. Though Alex had pointed out it would be a lot more difficult when they actually started doing more than just sail around East Blue and gather info. Ed agreed and everyone else had had an inclination. Canon was starting now, after all. And with Canon would come the storm known as Monkey D. Luffy. Most people would try to get to the eye of the storm, others would try to avoid it. But the Ouroboros? They were going to _ride_ that storm and then start one of their own. They weren't your average Self-Inserts, after all. Mostly because only one of them actually knew what the fuck was going on most of the time. The rest of them had second hand information and no amount explaining was going to rectify that. At least they knew how to function in the world, but even that was going to change with their entering the Grand Line. 

Alex had given them all a mission-briefing before they left the ship.

“Alright, if you see Smoker, you remember what he looks like, right? Well, he's broad and he's always smoking one or two cigars, hard to miss him, anyway, you see him, act casual, don't act like you're avoiding him, lest he think you're up to something. If we timed this correctly, he'll be too busy with Luffy to notice any odd behaviour from us. If you think Luffy is going to get caught, please only intervene in a way that you're not seen. Don't worry about Buggy and the gang, they're too stupid to be able to kill Luffy and besides, the idiot has Plot Armour. Even if it looks like Smoker might catch him, Dragon will show up to stop him, so I very much doubt we need to do anything but watch. But since we're creating ripples, we can and probably should help if it looks like it's needed. After the Straw Hats leave, and trust me, you'll know when they do, we'll meet up on the ship for the rest of why we're here, I received some info I wanna check and we need to get a permanent Log Pose to Alabasta, if we want to get there at least approximately when the Straw Hats are there.”

“Why do we need to meet up with the Straw Hats? 'Cause I'm assuming that's why you want to be in Alabasta at the same time?” Jonas asked, scratching his head.

Ed was the one to speak up “Well, Al told us about Ace meeting up with them in... Nanohana I think it was, which is a port town, so we should in theory land there with an eternal Log pose if we start from the same place as the Straw Hats. I thought it would be a good time to meet them and cement ourselves as “good guys” with the unwitting help of Ace, who should still remember us in a good light. This will help us in future encounters if something bad happens and we need to explain ourselves to them, if they already know us, they'll hear us out, otherwise we might have to fight them and thus make ourselves enemies.”

The crew had stared at her for a moment before Jim had piped up “You are _such_ a schemer, Captain dearest.”

Ed and Alex snorted “Compared to FMA Brotherhood and Naruto Shippuden, this is nothing!” the two choroused.

No one could really argue and had instead set off with this new revelation about their Captain and First Mate's ability to plan ahead. 

Somehow, they all ended up at the execution platform at the same time, mostly due to the scuffle they could hear coming from over there. They entered the plaza just in time to witness the most Deus Ex Machina shenanigans they had ever seen in their lives.

“Zoro! Sanji! Usopp! Nami!”

Up on the execution platform was Monkey D. Luffy, about to be beheaded by Buggy the Clown. Yet instead of a sane reaction, the little shit smiled widely.

“Sorry, but it looks like I'm dead.”

“Don't say that, you idiot!”

Then, just as the blade was about to touch his neck, the most Deus Ex Machina shenanigans they had ever seen in their lives happened.

Lighting.

A great bolt of electricity shot down from the heavens and struck the platform and not a single member of the Ouroboros could keep their jaws from hanging. Well, Alex was being much more subtle, since she had already seen it happen once. Or twice. Actually, she'd lost count of the times she'd re-read or re-watched the series.

“Nahahahahaa, looks like I did survive! How lucky!”

Out of the wreckage, Monkey D. Luffy emerged and plopped his signature straw hat onto his head, grinning as if nothing had happened.

Even from a slight distance, they could all hear the blond man, Sanji's, next question “Do you believe in god?”

Ed and Alex hunched over as they tried to suppress their laughter, Lisa facepalmed, Jim, Leo and Jonas deadpanned and Marcus turned to look to the side, coughing onto his fist.

“Surround the square, corner all the pirates!”

“They're here!”

“Run for it!”

“Which way!?”

And thus the square descended into chaos.

Ed turned to Alex with a wry grin “You were right.”

The younger Brunette blinked and inquired “About what?”

Sweeping her long hair over her right shoulder, the Ouroboros Captain grinned “We really did need to see that, you were right.”

The First Mate smiled, only slightly smug “Heh, there are some things that I find too important to skip, seeing a Pirate smile at his own execution is not something you'll easily forget.”

Ed nodded, while suddenly thinking of something “You think that's why Smoker's always so pissed? 'Cause he's now seen two grinning pirates on an execution stand?”

Al smirked, knowing the exact thought-process behind the question “I certainly think so.”

They really did think alike, it was honestly very creepy, even to them. Though, during their eight years together, the crew had grown used to it. That did not stop them from complaining about the two acting like twins even with a five-year age-difference. Well, that's what you get when your only friend growing up is your sister. That and the fact they watched almost the exact same series as the other. One Piece and a few others being the exception.

Growing up together sure put things in perspective. Their personalities were ridiculously alike and so was the way they thought. This was why the Captain-First Mate dynamic worked so well.

As the rain kept pouring down and the Buggy Pirates were rounded up, the Ouroboros crew exchanged glances before all three females took to the rooftops, leaving the men to idly walk towards their ship. With all the chaos happening, no one spotted the roof-hopping women as they ran after the three Straw Hats, just in case of ripples.

Lisa reached behind her to take hold of a strange looking contraption, with the press of a button, it unfolded into a compound bow. Her arrows were on her back, though she needed to unzip the case, which looked nothing like a quiver, for stealth purposes. Meanwhile, Alexia made sure she had her slingshot on and Edwina palmed a bag of marbles. It's not like they were aiming to do more than distract, if it came down to it. Only Lisa had a weapon that could seriously injure anyone, but she wasn't gonna take any pot-shots this time around.

They arrived just in time to see Smoker materialize on top of the Rubber Man. Looking around, the three women couldn't spot the cloaked figure that should be there and thus readied their chosen weapons and coated them in Armament Haki. Lisa fired an arrow, which cut Smoker's cheek. When the man started to turn his head, Alex shot a marble that hit the man on the nose, causing his head to snap back to face away from their direction. Just enough time for the hooded person they'd been waiting for to appear, grabbing hold of Smoker's jutte. When the marine was suitably distracted, Ed hurled her own marble at the two cigars, destroying them completely, much to her glee.

The trio then slid out of sight, lying on the other side of the roof, all with big smiles on their faces.

“I wonder if Dragon waited 'cause we were here and he could sense us, or if he just wasn't near enough yet.” Lisa mused, the back of her right wrist resting on her forehead as the rain pelted down on them, soaking their clothes and hair.

Ed shrugged “Who knows, friggin' Smoker, smokin' just 'cause his name is Smoker... or is it 'cause of his Devil Fruit?”

Alexia piped up “I'm pretty sure Black Cage Hina smokes too... and Shakky.”

“And isn't Crocodile a smoker too?” Lisa added her own two cents.

Ed sat up to stare at them before covering her eyes with her hands “Aaaaargh! What's wrong with this world?!”

They remaining two gave her a deadpan stare, causing her to stop flailing around “Shut up, point taken, stupid question. Let's go already.”

Monkey D. Dragon eyed the three figures as they hopped down from the roof, wondering how they were connected to his son. Shrugging it off, Dragon made his way to the docks, eager to see his son leave for his adventure. Not that his outside appearance gave away anything other than the very creepy grin he almost always sported.

“ _Go on, Luffy. The world is waiting for our answer._ ”


	2. You wouldn't happen to know...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who this guy is?  
> The Ouroboros Pirated raid Logue Town's Marine base and their Captain comes across a somewhat familiar figure in the cells. It's like they're destined to meet random important characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, this is kinda short, but this chapter refused to be written any longer. Hope you like it anyway

The next day dawned sunny, though everything was still wet from yesterday's storm. Everyone in the crew helped mop up the water on deck and once the wood was only kind of damp, Al threw her mop to the side.

“Ah, finally!”

Leo rolled his eyes as he picked up the cleaning supply, moving to put it with the others in its designated closet. It wouldn't do for someone to trip and injure themselves.

“So, what's the schedule, Lex?”

There were some snickers as their doctor asked that and Alexia shot him a mock-glare “Do I _look_ bald to you?” before sighing “Well, Smoker's leaving any minute now and I'm supposed to meet someone and exchange some information. Meanwhile, I thought we could raid the Marine Base now that Smoker's no longer a variable.”

Jim, who was kicking his feet while sitting on the railing asked “So what are we taking?”

Al stretched as she started rattling off her plans on the subject “Anything and everything, I guess. Log poses, files, supplies, weapons, sea-stone...” she shrugged “Anything useful. I _did_ manage to get my hands on a basic Log Pose, but it's good to have a reserve, y'know?”

The crew nodded, seeing what she was going for. Things could always go wrong and it was a way to get favors if someone needed a log pose and they delivered. Not to mention if they found permanent log poses, now those were real treasure in this world.

Al clapped her hands together and led the way towards the “war room”, where maps and drafts of plans were stored and where their round table was whenever they didn't have a meeting on deck, which was whenever they were docked somewhere “Alright! Let's go over the plan before I release you upon the world!”

This was how Ed ended up planting explosives in key places to destroy and cause mayhem while the others did their thing. This was the only reason she passed by the cells, carrying a wooden box with a star on one side and a skull and crossbones on the other. It was a taunt of sorts, the skull would be hidden while the star would be visible, but should anyone turn the box... well, it was funny and petty, but Ed didn't care, nor did anyone else on the crew. Well, Jonas had called it juvenile, but he'd been smiling, so she didn't pay it any mind. 

Catching a glimpse of someone in the cells, Ed stopped and tilted her head while she peered inside the darkness. The figure was... familiar. Narrowing her eyes, she set the box-bomb down and took out her walkie-talkie that Jonas had been so proud of making so that they could communicate without having to fear black Den Den Mushis.

“This is Hagane, come in Otouto.”

There was a pause before her sister answered, the sounds of a pub filtering through in the background “This is Otouto, what is it, Hagane?”

Ed answered with a contemplative air “What was that person you were supposed to meet supposed to look like?”

There was a pause before Al replied “Um, I was told to look for a blond gentleman, said I would know him when I saw him, why?”

“Weeeell...” Ed said, bending over slightly as she tried to peer closer “It looks to me like the Marines have at some point arrested a blue-clad blond gentleman with a black tophat with goggles.”

There was a brief silence before Al replied “Oh fuck.”

Ed nodded, taking a few steps back “My thoughts exactly.” before kicking the cell door open.

The metal gave way after three hits from a haki-enhanced foot and an ear-piercing screech. Ed picked up her box, placed it beside the man Ed was fairly certain she knew the identity of before drawing her tanto and cutting through the shackles. Catching the blond, the brunette tossed him over her shoulder, gripping his hat in the same hand which was attached to the arm holding onto his legs before she exited the cell and started running.

She took out her radio once more, this time intending her message for everyone “You better be ready 'cause we gotta leave! Now, Dean, go!” she yelled before putting the walkie-talkie in the pocket of her green cargo-pants and instead taking out a switch which upon pressed activated the timers in her bombs. They had ten seconds minimum to get away from any bombs, because that was when the first ones would blow.

Being from where they were, they had the advantage of code-words and phrases that were impossible to decode, Ed thought as she ran for the lives of her and her unconscious cargo. The base was starting to crumble and catch fire as she neared her exit-point, heading straight for the ship as she did not have a lifeboat or similar for any pilfered stuff, that was something the others needed. Sure, she'd used one to move all her bomb-boxes, but that one was being used by Lisa to get whatever was her job to get.

Al was on the ship waiting when Ed clambered onto the deck and moved to hold the door open to the sick-bay, which was below Captain's Quarters and easily accessible, unlike everything else below deck. Sure, getting below deck wasn't _difficult_ , but getting someone injured down there without hurting them further was a challenge. Hence why they had put the med-bay where it was.

Laying her load gently on the bed, the sisters stood back and stared, Ed still holding the tophat in her hand. After a moment, Edwina spoke.

“So, this is him?”

She didn't need to look at Alexia to know she was nodding “Yeah, that's him, alright. That's Sabo, Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army. I guess he _was_ here. There was a lot of debate about that, y'know? 'Cause Oda sure as hell likes to foreshadow his shit but it's impossible to spot beforehand.”

Ed sighed and put the hat on the bedside table “I guess we can leave him unattended? Until Leo gets back, at least. I'm not sure I like the fact he hasn't woken up even once.”

Al grimaced “Yeah, hopefully it's just drugs or something.”

As they exited, Ed couldn't help but point out “Y'know, there's a high possibility he only got captured 'cause he was gonna meet up with you.”

Her sister sighed “Don't I know it.”


	3. The greatest opportunity ever for a fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not only does Sabo give Al the perfect excuse to give him information on _himself_ , he also unwittingly gives a One Piece fan the opportunity to "fix-it".

It turned out, according to Leo, that it was drugs. Thankfully, though, they were almost out of his system and Sabo would wake soon enough. He would most likely be disoriented, especially if he remembered being taken by Marines. Oh well, at least Alex could do her exchange in peace.

They were headed for Reverse Mountain, since Baltigo was in the Grand Line and Sabo was crafty enough to be able to get back to East Blue if he needed to do so. Currently, since they were going at a slow pace, they were organizing and checking out their loot.

“Oh, nice, White Den Den Mushi... Ooooh, _nice_ , _Black_ Den Den Mushi.”

Lisa looked up from sorting files “I suppose that a good thing, from your tone?”

Al looked up with a devious grin from the box of random shit which looked even vaguely useful Marcus had stolen “White Den Den Mushi cancel out Black Den Den Mushi, Black Den Den mushi intercept calls within their range.”

Everyone stopped at that and grinned “ _Sweet_.” Was the shared comment from all of them.

“A-ha! Eternal Log Pose to Alabasta! Suck it!” came the victorious yell from Ed, who was looking through Jim's pilfered Log Poses and other Seafaring Equipment.

Ed straightened up, still sitting on the deck and flashed two thumbs up in the other's direction “Nice work, Jimbo!”

Said man groaned “Stop iiiiit, I don't even like _Treasure Planet_.”

“Blasphemy!”

The sound one makes while sticking out their tongue. Al rolled her eyes, _kids_. She then proceeded to ignore how much of a hypocrite she was.

“Huh, they have a file for “Chief of Staff” of the Revolutionaries, but no name or picture, guess they find out later...” Liz commented, flipping through the file that had caught her eye, if only due to their new guest.

“Well, good to know. No one mention his rank until he tells us, if he tells us. I wonder if the Marines only found out after Dressrosa, because of the thing.” Marcus mused, moving another crate of food towards the kitchen and dining room, which was beside the infirmary. For convenience sake.

Al quipped “Most likely.” before diving right back into the box and pulling out a rather small Den Den with a tophat “Huh, wonder who _you_ belong to?”

Ed looked up and deadpanned “You're kidding, right?”

Al laughed “Yeah, it _is_ obvious, isn't it?”

Her elder sister sighed “We'll just return it to him when he finally wakes up, alright?”

“Agreed.”

Meanwhile, Sabo was having the unpleasant experience of waking up with a headache the size of a Celestial Dragon's ego and feeling sick. It took him a moment to remember just what had happened to cause him to be in such a state, but then recalled the very unfortunate encounter with the Marines. Tranquilizers had never agreed with him and it was sad that he could say that from experience. What he didn't understand was why he seemed to be in a sickbay instead of the cell he'd very briefly woken up in when he was being chained to the wall. Sitting up on the bed was more difficult than it would have normally been but he managed without embarrassing himself. Spotting his tophat he went to pick it up when he spotted a white card leaning against it. The card held an infinity symbol with a short line going through it, which Sabo realized was actually the Roman Numeral 1. It was the calling card of the informant he'd been on his way to meet.

“Oh.” he said, voice rough. He blinked and cleared his throat, grabbing his hat and putting it on his head “They're good.”

After that little revelation of who had gotten him out of Marine custody, the Chief of Staff stumbled out of the medical room only to despair at the sight of stairs. Not seeing any other option, since who knew when someone would be looking in on him, he painstakingly ascended the stairs, keeping a tight grip on the rail. Once he made it up the stairs, Sabo breathed deeply before he opened one of the double doors in front of him, the sea breeze immediately hitting him in the face. The blond was just glad it didn't make him even more nauseous.

The first thing he saw was an open hatch, a bunch of boxes and people sorting through whatever was in the boxes. It didn't take him long to also spot a young woman, probably his age who matched the description they had received upon contact with the informant. Brown hair in a braid wearing a red and blue hoodie with a spider on it. Hard to miss, as they had been told. He also realized he could not see land anywhere, which meant he was on an unknown ship, with the contact, away from Logue Town.

Well, great.

The woman he'd supposed to meet looked up from her box and her eyes landed on his slumped form, causing her to straighten up, which caught the attention of a woman who looked very much like her, but had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a black top and leggings. She, too, looked his way and before the Revolutionary could do much else, the first woman spoke.

“One is all,”

Sabo's brain kicked into gear at hearing the first phrase of the identifying password he'd been given, straightening his posture as best he could, he answered “All is one.”

The woman smiled and finished “Let me educate you.” she then clapped her hands as the others on deck realized he was awake “Alright, Mr. Blue Gentleman, let's get some food in you and then we'll talk. Also, we couldn't stay at Logue Town so we had to take you with us when we raided the Marine base, hope that's alright?”

Sabo's mind reeled for only a moment before a gentle, disarming smile appeared on his face “Ah, don't worry about that, I am grateful that you rescued me at all, so I cannot really complain.”

The other female brunette snorted and muttered something along the lines of “A gentleman indeed.”, but Sabo couldn't be too sure. Given the fact that the contact, or perhaps even the informant herself, rolled her eyes heavenward Sabo was inclined to think he'd heard her right. 

She stepped away from the box and approached Sabo with a relaxed posture, leading him back down the stairs and through another door just as a man slightly shorter than Sabo exited the room which turned out to be the kitchen and dining room, holding a tray containing sandwiches and juice.

The light-brown-haired man blinked at them before shrugging and saying “There's more on the counter, I take it he _is_ the guy?”

The woman tilted her head and shrugged one shoulder “Yeah, we'll be talking business and drop-off, so...”

The hazel-eyed man nodded and continued his trek “No one but the Captain may enter, got it, 'Lexie.”

“Thanks, Marc!”

The kitchen was separated from the dining area by a counter spanning from one wall to the other, with a swinging half-door on the left. There was one big table with eight chairs around it, with space for a second, equally sized table beside it. The counter had four bar-stools in front of it, which 'Lexie' headed for. Sabo followed and hopped up beside her, setting his tophat beside his left elbow, away from her.

“Well,” she started, spinning around and setting her elbows on the counter, behind her back as her now open hoodie showed the red top she wore underneath “Let's get down to introductions. My name is Alexia, but I accept any variations of the name. I am the First Mate of the Ouroboros Pirates, welcome aboard _The Truth_.” she then cocked her head with a grin “Of course, I am also known as 'The Informant', which is whom you were at Logue Town to meet.”

Sabo smiled “Is it wise to tell me all of this? You've been secretive about your identity as the member of a pirate crew thus far...”

Alexia snorted “As if you wouldn't have found out now anyway, you're stuck on our ship until further notice, Mr....” she trailed off as she spun around once again to slide the other tray 'Marc' had mentioned towards them.

Taking the silently offered food, though removing his glove first, Sabo answered “I suppose I could tell you... I am Sabo, Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army. Though, you did know it was us whom wished to trade for information.”

Taking a gulp of juice, Alexia nodded “Nice to meet you, speaking of, what did you wish to know? Your people were vague, which is understandable.”

Sabo nodded, swallowing his food before speaking “Mostly just general information about what is according to you important about current events, though the situation in Alabasta is also something we'd wish information about.”

The brunette drummed her fingers against her glass, closing her eyes and tilting her head back, exhaling a heavy breath before letting her head fall back forward “Let's start with Alabasta. The civil war is nothing but a misunderstanding. It is a farce led by none other than the Shichibukai Crocodile. Crocodile is also the leader of Baroque Works, Mr. 0. He is targeting Alabasta supposedly to build the Utopia he has promised his underlings but... I have a suspicion he is searching for something there. Something he can only get to by creating this horrendous diversion.”

Sabo sat there, silently listening to what she had to say, arms crossed on the counter. Some of that had been new information which they did not have or confirmed suspicions they'd already had. It had been a good idea to contact her, he was now certain.

The hazel-eyed woman continued solemnly “And as for generally... Whitebeard has been betrayed.”

Sabo sucked in a surprised breath, eyes widening.

Alex continued “Marshall D. Teach... Now known as Blackbeard... stabbed the 4th Division Commander in the back, literally, killing him and then escaping with... something. 2nd Division Commander Fire Fist is in pursuit, as far as I know. Drum Island is without it's king due to an attack by Blackbeard, Wapol fled and left his people to rot, Poseidon is asleep on Fishman island, Arlong Park has fallen, Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates is actually alive, Marine Captain Axe Hand Morgan has been imprisoned, Garp the Fist has two new vict- I mean apprentices, Buggy the Clown got his ass handed to him twice by the same people, Alvida is no longer fat and has eaten the Sube Sube no Mi, Don Krieg and his crew got annihilated, the Sea King by Foosha Village is out of commission, Smoker has left Logue Town, Shanks is drunk as usual, Sabaody is a den of sin, Celestial Dragons are abominations, Doflamingo is a previous Celestial Dragon and the Straw Hat Pirates have entered the Grand Line.”

Sabo's head spun at the sudden onslaught of random information and weakly asked “Can you maybe write that down?”

“Sure.”

“... where, exactly, is Foosha village?”

“On the same island as Goa Kingdom, Dawn Island.”

“... what do you know about... something that would've happened ten years ago, at that place?”

Sabo wasn't sure why he was asking, but if Alexia was as good as rumors said, then maybe he would find out something new.

He saw he look at him with a frown, until a spark of recognition lit up her eyes and for the first time in a while, Sabo hoped he'd finally get some answers.

Alexia set down her glass, staring at him as she spoke “Only once have I been there, but that was more than enough to hear a lot of things.”

Sabo turned to face her, determined to hear what she had to say. This information was not something the Revolutionaries wanted, but Sabo hoped it wouldn't cost him too much. For once, he'd be selfish and hopefully it would pay off.

“Some ten years ago, the dump Gray Terminal and Upper Town were plagued by two boys robbing and beating up anyone they came across. Ten years ago that number turned to three. Two black haired boys and one blond.”

Sabo gripped the fabric of his pants, one part wanting to believe this was about him and one part doubting it.

“Then the Grey Terminal Fire happened. The nobles burned the dump and everyone living in it due to the visitation of a Celestial Dragon, St. Jalmack... whom upon arriving, shot a small boat for daring to crass his path. The very next day, Outlook Sabo-”

Sabo's eyes widened as that name left her lips.

“was declared dead by his parents, even though he'd been reported missing a few years prior. In addition, there was never a body found in the wreckage.”

She paused here, looking at her glass with a furrowed brow “And when I visited... some seven years ago... there were only two boys terrorizing Upper Town... two raven-heads... with the blond nowhere in sight.” she blew a breath through her nose “Apparently, he'd suddenly disappeared only three years prior.”

Sabo was trembling now. This... this was more than he'd expected, and he didn't know what to do with it.

For once, Al was incredibly grateful of having a reputation of being able to impart impossibly accurate information. Good at gathering as she might be, she wasn't omnipotent as many believed. However, knowing what she did, she was immensely glad to have been able to give Sabo this. The 20-year-old Revolutionary deserved to find out in a way that didn't involve reading from a paper that his brother was dead. Honestly, she was relieved that he had given her the perfect opportunity to dangle this scenario in front of him, making it sound too good to be true, yet ringing true to him all the same. 

As the blond beside her tried to come to terms with this look into his potential past, she spoke again “A price for the information was negotiated beforehand, but your request has made it necessary to come up with additional payment. With your amnesia- hush now, how do you think I come across half of my information? I deduce. Anyway, your situation has me intrigued, so in exchange of this information and anything additional I may discover, I would like to have your Den Den Mushi number.”

Sabo looked at her with dubious eyes “I don't see why not, but would you elaborate your reason?”

Al set down her glass and put her chin in her palm, her elbow on the counter, facing him as she spoke “Your situation makes me wonder... who were you, Sabo of the Revolutionaries, before your memory loss? Who did you leave behind? Who mourned you? Who misses you? …is there anyone looking for you? I want to find out. Equivalent exchange. I give you this information and you let me investigate just who you were and you will come when I call you, should I find anything.”

She had him hooked, and they both knew it.

Sabo chuckled lightly “Fair enough, however, I seem to have lost my-” he was cut off by the sound of a Den Den Mushi ringing.

“Puru puru puru... puru puru puru...”

Al blinked and fished out the little Mushi with a tophat out of her pocket and chucked it at the revolutionary, who caught it by reflex.

“That yours?”

“... yes...”

“Shouldn't you answer it?”

“... yes...”

“Cacha.”

“SABO! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”

The addressed blond winced at the sound of Koala's angry voice. The scarred man rubbed his neck sheepishly “Well, I will be running a bit late, it seems I have been brought along the informant's pirate crew _when they busted me out of the Marines holding cells_. And, um, could someone tell Dragon for me?”

There was a brief pause before Koala started yelling incoherently, prompting Sabo to hang up just as the door opened to reveal the other brunette woman, now wearing a tricorn hat.

She flicked her hand in a vague greeting “Yo, you done?”

Al shrugged “Basics and a little extra, might go deeper into detail later, depending entirely where Sabo wants to be let off.”

Said blond sighed, waving a hand in the air “I was actually heading to Sabaody in the long run, but I might as well head to Alabasta to check things out.”

Unseen to Sabo, the two sisters exchanged sinister grins. Oh, this made it _much_ easier to “coincidentally” reunite the three brothers. This was going much smoother than they'd anticipated.

They wondered just how long Sabo would remain calm, unruffled and not at all confused while onboard.


	4. Bonfire nights too?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which bonfire nights somehow became the designated moment for meaningful discussions. Ed's not sure how it happened. How did she become the "Inspirational Anime Quote"-person?

You had to hand it to Sabo, it only took five days for him to be caught flat-footed while sailing aboard _The Truth_. This happened when they arrived at a destroyed Whiskey Peak, where Captain Edwina (“Just call me Ed, seriously.”) had taken one look at the damage, turned to Miss Alexia (“You're such a nerd, Blue.”) and said, very plainly:

“Straw Hats?”

“Straw Hats.”

Alexia's answer had been in the exact same tone as her elder sister's, and the crew had not questioned it even a little.

Sabo, on the other hand, had looked at them incredulously and, forgetting his manners, demanded “How can you _know_?”

The two had looked to him, grinned and said in perfect unison “Hurricane Luffy cannot be stopped.”

The blond gentleman had just palmed his face and sighed. Oh, well. At least it wasn't another Island Whale with the Straw Hat Jolly Roger painted on it.

“Ah, though now that we are here, Sabo, this is a Baroque Works outpost. They catch pirates that have entered the Grand Line, get them drunk and then claim their bounty. Seems they tried that with the Straw Hats and it... didn't end well.”

“That's putting it lightly.” snorted Jonas, the beefy inventor of the Ouroboros Pirates.

The man wasn't very vocal and mostly kept to himself when he wasn't helping with the heavier heavy lifting. Sabo liked the man, since he reminded him of Hack a little, except without the fighting spirit the fishman had. Though the eternally curious part of him also liked looking at the man's inventions, especially the Walkie-Talkies, as the man had called them, looking immensely smug. And why shouldn't he be? They were really good tools to slip transmissions under everyone's nose, since Black Den Den Mushi could not pick them up and they used a different frequency than Marine Radios, not that those were used often, what with people being too used and comfortable with Den Den Mushi. Sabo really wanted to ask if the man would consider making them for the Revolutionary Army, but refrained due to the fact that while, yes, The Informant was part of their crew, that didn't mean they were allies of the Revolutionaries. They were Pirates and they did as they pleased. He was allowed to stay on the whim of the two in charge and nothing more.

The Captain decided that they should raid the island for anything useful, as soon as that was done, they headed out once more, this time following the Eternal Pose to Alabasta. Sabo had not understood why, but he hadn't questioned it either. Not at first.

A few days after they'd set sail towards the Desert Kingdom, The Ouroboros had a bonfire night. The first one since they had picked up Sabo. As the crew was helping in setting up the fire-pit, Sabo sat to the side, watching them thoughtfully.

“Ask away.”

He looked up at the sound of the Captain's voice and saw that the woman and her sister had dragged over colorful beanbag-chairs, the woman plopping down onto one, which left Sabo still looking up, since he was sitting on the deck.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes at his question and elaborated “You look like you _really_ wanna ask something, but you're not sure how we'll take it. Ask away, don't worry, I won't get mad.”

Sabo pursed his lips and tilted his head, which was devoid of his hat “Alright. Why _are_ you going straight to Alabasta instead of stopping by the islands in between? Just because I said that was where I wanted to be dropped off...” he trailed off.

Edwina looked at him with an unreadable expression ,her hat still firmly on her head, after a moment, she answered “Because we can.”

Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't have a chance to ask, as she continued to speak.

“Because we can, because we like you and because we can choose to do so. The seven of us... we met by a quirk of fate, pure coincidence. But because of that, we practically saw the world change around us, as we realized something. This world is rotten, and it's next to impossible to live a life unshackled by the government. My sister put it like this: 'If we stay civilian we're more likely to get killed, maimed, kidnapped, arrested and other things than we are if we became criminals. Not to mention the law enforcement is mostly just dicks and evil dicks.'.” she finished with a sigh, before continuing “Not to mention the odds of being forced into slavery. We realized we were in a world where the best option is becoming a pirate. We didn't become Pirates because we wanted to...” she said as she gazed off into the evening sky.

“We became Pirates because we _needed to_.”

Sabo sat there, mesmerized by what this woman was saying.

“Civilians have the illusion of freedom, the illusion of choice. If they learn how to fight, they get questioned and possibly arrested. If they insult the wrong person, they get arrested. If they try to leave the sea they were born in...”

“They get arrested.” Sabo finished.

The brunette smirked “Civilians can't leave without the help of contacts, smugglers or pirates, thus, if they are caught, they get in trouble with the government. And don't get me started on what happens if they cross a World Noble.” she then crossed her arms “Marines have a clear-cut hierarchy and if you don't conform, you're demoted or worse. If you have an opinion, you're punished. If you disobey, you're punished. If you question things...”

“You're punished.” Sabo deadpanned, seeing where this line of thought was going.

“Bingo.” the hazel-eyed Captain drawled, before gaining a completely serious face “Pirates, however...” she murmured, before starting again “If a Pirate wants to leave, they can do that. If a Pirate wants to learn how to fight, they can do that. If a Pirate wants to curse the world and badmouth society, they can do that. If a Pirate wants to do _anything_ , _they can do that_. A Pirate can choose. A pirate needs not fear being labeled a criminal for something they do, because they already are criminals. The consequences of our actions don't matter, because the world hates us anyway. But at least we're free. Why are we helping you and taking you straight to Alabasta?” she asked rhetorically, leaning forward and looking him straight in the eyes “Because we can _choose_ to do so, are _free_ to do so and _want_ to do so.” she straightened back up and finished with “You are a Revolutionary. That's more than enough for us.”

Sabo found his voice again “Why?”

It was Al who answered him this time “Because this world is rotten.” she said softly, gazing at him with sad eyes “And you're a part of something great, something that works for _change_.” she sat silently for a moment, before she spoke again “We will never join the Revolutionaries, but,” she flashed him a smile “You can be damn sure we'll work with you, if you only ask. Of course,” she shrugged “In exchange for our services, we'd like a Den Den Mushi number with which to contact your leader, for further negotiations.”

Sabo sat there as the fire finally roared to life and said with a smile “I'll see what I can do.”

Of course, there was much that had been left out, far more selfish reasons for what they were doing, but there was no way to explain those without getting into the whole “not from this world” thing, so they kept silent on that. But they hadn't lied.

It's not like they needed to.

Ed gazed into the fire as Al leapt up and started the night off with the cheery tunes of “Binks' Sake.”, anticipation rising.

Soon, they would start the big waves and she couldn't be happier. She might not be attached to the people of this world, but she had grown fond of the tales she'd heard from her sister.

ASL would rise again.

And Blackbeard would fall.

Ed smirked.

_This is gonna be good._

Later, after the bonfire, Jim spoke for all of them once he was certain Sabo had gone to sleep.

“Is it just me, or did bonfire night become some sort of gateway to meaningful speeches?”

Ed groaned “I _know_ , right? Why do you think I put it off for so long?”

The crew exchanged glances and silently agreed.

Al quipped “Welp, just another Anime Cliché. Or is it just cliché?”

“Who cares, go to bed!” was Jonas' response, the responsible adult.


	5. We present to you: one dead brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ouroboros make a "quick pit-stop" in Nanohana.  
> Well, that's what they told Sabo, anyway.  
> It wasn't like they could tell him they were plotting to reunite him with his family.  
> This was going to be epic.

By the time the Ouroboros reached Nanohana, they were in dire need of restocking. Due to the fact they had not made any pit-stops and the presence of a D in all but name, their food had dwindled a little more than they had calculated. Of course, no one mentioned this to Sabo, since they were all in on “the plan”. They told the Revolutionary it was just a quick pit-stop and that he should probably use the time to report back to his superiors. His only superior being Dragon, but he didn't know they knew that.

And, while yes, it was just a quick pit-stop, that's not _all_ it was. They were, after all, trying to meet up with someone they had all missed. Ever since his departure, the crew had grown fond of him. Meeting him had helped make the things Al said about him tangible and whenever someone sung _Through Heaven's Eyes_ , they automatically thought of him. So yes, a quick pit-stop on the way to reuniting with Portgas D. Ace.

Sabo had disembarked with a few of the others and given a part of a Blank Vivre card which they had stolen from the marines. It was a very lucky find and Al had quickly divided the thing into one bigger part and 14 smaller parts, with eight currently in use. Everyone in the crew had one piece while Sabo had been gifted one with the explanation of “Just in case we need to move the ship so you'll find us again. We did promise to take you a little further, after all.” she'd then paused and continued “Well, that is if you want to, you have a day to decide whether or not to take us up on our offer or make your way on your own, just call before you leave, if you do, ok?”

Well, that was an empty promise, since they were sure they had timed it correctly. As it turned out, they had timed it perfectly. Just as they had purchased what was needed, they all felt the same Haki coming from somewhere close. As one, all members of the crew looked up with wide smiles on their faces. They knew that signature. And it had only gotten stronger. They all started sprinting towards the ship, Jonas readying it to set sail at a moment's notice. 

One by one, the Ouroboros boarded the ship, with their Captain vaulting over the rail with a maniacal grin, yelling “Set sail!”

“Aye, Captain!” was the unanimous response, each member sporting the same wide grin. 

Soon they were far enough from port to see the remnants of an inferno. Now they just had to wait, or shadow the Going Merry. They spotted the Jolly Roger a few minutes later and started following from a distance as the pirate ship belonging to Straw Hat Luffy and his crew slowly sailed the coast, obviously looking for its captain.

Ed lifted a brown booted foot and rested it on the rail, leaning against it with a grin “And now we wait.”

Soon enough, they saw not only Luffy rocketing on board, but also Striker zooming towards the ship. Not too long after that, Baroque works showed up. Well, sucks to be them, since Ace made _very_ quick work of them. Poor, poor Billions fleet.

“Alright,” Ed said, pushing herself away from the rail “speed up, let's go meet our old friend.”

As they slowly gained on the ship, Ed wondered how they should announce themselves without causing too much panic. After all, Ace was the only one who knew them and they didn't have much of a reputation. Well, they _had_ left their Jolly Roger at the Marine Base back in Logue Town, so they had actually received some infamy from that. Though, Ed was still the only one with a bounty. Well, now it had risen to the same level as Luffy's, so that was something. She guessed the fact that Logue Town had been untouchable had contributed to that.

Al had stepped inside to call Sabo. They were close enough for him to be able to catch up in the small sailboat they had left behind just in case they had to evacuate and left someone behind. Well, that was the official reason. The real reason was so that Sabo could catch up, not that _he_ knew that. Their ship was now close enough that Ed was sure she'd be heard if she yelled, and that fact gave her an idea. She turned to look at the others and grinned, before she turned back towards Merry, hopped onto the railing and took a deep breath.

Ace had barely stepped back onboard his brother's ship when he heard it. They all heard it and while the Straw Hats were confused, Ace just froze in recognition.

“A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shine!”

A female voice rung out, obviously singing very loudly, even if distance made it fainter than it should be.

“What is that?” Luffy asked, looking around.

“More importantly, where is it coming from?” was the swordsman's input.

Ace, meanwhile, was listening for the next line, pretty sure he knew who was singing.

“Can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design!”

The singer was louder now, which meant they were getting closer.

“This song...” the Fire Logia muttered, hand on his hat as he, too, looked around.

This caught the attention of his brother's crew “Oh, Ace, you know this song?” his little brother asked, head tilted cutely.

“And the stone that sits on the very top of the mountain's mighty face!”

Ace nodded, stalking towards the port side of the ship, where he was sure he was hearing the singing from “Yea, I've only heard it once, but if I'm right...” he trailed off, putting his left hand on the rail and looking behind the ship, his hand still on his hat.

“Does it think it's more important than the stones that form the base?”

And 'lo and behold, he thought as he spotted a familiar Jolly Roger at the top of a mast belonging to a familiar ship. Ace smiled widely, he _had_ missed them, no matter how brief their encounter had been “Knew it.” he said as The Truth pulled up beside them, a familiar figure standing on the ship's rail, arms crossed in front of her and a giant grin on her face.

“So how can you see what your life is worth  
Or where your value lies?  
You can never see through the eyes of man  
You must look at your life, look at your life through heaven's eyes.” 

The Captain of the Ouroboros Pirates finished, at a much lower volume, before the whole crew called out “Ace!” and waved.

The Whitebeard Pirate laughed “So you guys finally left East Blue?” he called back with a grin

“Mugiwara practically sent an invitation! How could I refuse?” Ed called back, the fingers of one hand pressed against her chest while the other rested on her hip.

Her choice of words caused her sister to groan “Oh god, no. Stop.”

“Shut up, it's a perfectly good movie.”

“Preminger's a pussy!”

The rest of the crew visibly sagged at what had to be an old argument and Ace couldn't help but laugh.

“Oi, Ace, you know those guys?”

Ace turned to look at his brother and the other Straw Hats “Yeah, I met them shortly after leaving Dawn Island. It really left a lasting impression, though I never could figure out why they stayed there all these years.”

“Only an idiot would go through Logue Town when Smoker's there! Though that doesn't say much about you!” Ed yelled, hands cupped in front of her mouth so as to let her voice carry over better.

“Hey!”

The people on her ship laughed, with Luffy joining in, mostly because the idiot didn't realize he was being insulted too.

After the laughter wound down and the Straw Hats had migrated over to The Truth, Ed smiled gently “How many years has it been?”

Ace shrugged “Dunno, but what are you doing in Nanohana?”

The Captain waved her hand in a dismissive motion as Sanji and Marcus went to share the kitchen “We had to save this Revolutionary my sister had a meeting with to exchange information and since he was already on board we decided to take him a bit further to anywhere he needed to go. Turned out to be Alabasta. Well, he'll catch up soon enough, since we left in a hurry when we sensed you here. He's also from the East Blue, though according to Al, he had some sort of run-in with a World Noble and now he doesn't even know who he is.” the woman winced “Kinda sucks when you think about it, ten years of wondering just who he is and whether or not anyone's looking for him.”

Ace couldn't really understand, but he could guess it had to be difficult.

Ed cocked her head “How do you know Mugiwara, anyway?”

The Fire Logia chuckled “That idiot,” he said, pointing at the boy wearing a straw hat “is my little brother, whom I am constantly worried about.”

Ed looked at him with dawning comprehension “Ah, no wonder we get along so well. I have it easier, I guess, since my sister is on my crew and isn't nearly as reckless as I am... which is to say, only a fraction as reckless as Mugiwara.”

Ace deadpanned “I envy you.”

The Captain laughed, before pausing and tilting her head. She then spun around and yelled “Starboard ladder, our dear Chief of Staff has returned!”

The Straw Hat Pirates eyed her in confusion, except Luffy, who looked star-struck. Ace on the other hand, hummed in recognition “Oh, so you can do Haki? Pretty impressive since you've only been in the East Blue as far as I know.”

Ed looked at him drolly “My sister knew about it and she put us through Hell Training. I swear my bruises had bruises at first. Besides, we weren't born there.”

“Heeey! Blue! What took you so long?” Ed's little sister called over the railing she was hanging from, almost tipping over if it weren't for her apparent balancing skills.

“I thought you said she wasn't reckless?” Ace asked his fellow older sibling, eying the other girl.  
“I assure you, her grip is very strong. If her feet left the deck, _then_ I'd be worried.”

“How rude, you're the ones who left without me.” came a cultured voice from where Al had been calling to.

“Sorry, sorry, but we left the boat, didn't we?”

“Still rude.”

“Whatever you say, Blue. Anyway, I really think you should meet this kid, if only so you can report back to his father that he's doing well. And to tell him his background isn't _nearly_ as obscure as he seems to think it is.”

“And how would I do that? I don't know his father.”

“Yes you do! Luffy here is son to your boss, Monkey D. Dragon.”

There was the sound of the rope-ladder clattering as whoever was climbing it lost his grip and a few thumps as they apparently fell a few pegs, but managed to catch themselves “You did that on purpose!”

Al just laughed and reached down to help their guest, Ace guessed, up as an apology. The man they were giving a ride to was wearing clothing that sent a pang of sadness through the Whitebeard Pirate, but he held his tongue. They were all guests on this ship, he wouldn't cause a scene, Makino had taught him better. No matter how much he wanted to shake the man and demand why he wore similar clothes to Sabo.

“Dragon-san's son?” the man asked, his face hidden from Ace's view as he spoke to Alexia.

The woman nodded “Yeah, your boss isn't as subtle as he thinks he is and his history is too interesting for me to pass up. It was rather easy to figure out, you know. At least for me. Don't worry, the only ones I've told are present at the moment.”

The top-hatted man sighed “Well, there's that, at least.”

Sanji and Marcus returned saying dinner was served, so introductions were put aside for the moment. Once they started putting away dishes, Ace brought it up.

“So, who are you, anyway?” the pirate asked, trying very hard not to seem _too_ interested or rude. 

He wasn't sure he managed.

“Ah, my apologies,” the man said, reaching to take off his hat, revealing wavy golden locks and a scarred face “I'm the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, my name is Sabo, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

There was a gasp from the Straw Hatted teen, who was looking at the blond with wide eyes “S-Sabo?” he asked in a voice that told Ace exactly what was coming.

The elder brother stood up, trying to stop him “Oi, Luffy, wai-”

“Saaabooooo!” came the wail of a crying teen as he launched himself at the Revolutionary, who looked panicked as he was flung to the floor and had rubbery appendages wrapped around him “Dey said yuu diiiiieeeed! Waaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaa!”

Ace leaned over the table and started scolding his little brother “Idiot! He's obviously not our Sabo, Sabo got... blown... up...” he trailed off as he realized something.

_“He's also from the East Blue, though according to Al, he had some sort of run-in with a World Noble and now he doesn't even know who he is.”_

Sabo got blown up by a World Noble too, so if that was the case... “Oi, exactly where are you from, anyway?” Ace asked, eyes narrowed.

The man who called himself Sabo was trying to untangle Luffy from himself in vain as he answered “Goa Kingdom, supposedly. Dragon fished me out of the water on the shores of Dawn Island, said he'd run into me in High Town before the... what did you call it, Miss Alexia? The Gray Terminal Fire?”

Ace was moving around the table before the woman could answer and grabbed Sabo by that stupid napkin he insisted wearing “You idiot! Why did you set sail instead of coming to us? We thought you died! Dogra saw your ship get blown up! Luffy cried! _I_ cried! Stupid little brother!”

The blond gave up on trying to disentangle Luffy and was now instead staring, wide-eyed at Ace, his hands up, palms facing the other in a placating gesture.

“Yeesh, why don't you have a drink and relax?” Ace dimly heard Ed ask as something was set on the table behind him.

“You're going with _that_? You could at least get the good stuff, that bottle's reserved for people we _don't_ like.” someone commented from further back.

“Al took away the key to the storage for the good stuff, Marc. I'm no longer allowed in there.” Ed reminded the chef, who had apparently spoken.

“Well, I kinda had to, since last time I gave you free reign you were drunk for a week straight until you were, as you said: 'so drunk I'm sober.'.” the Captain's sister said, sounding exasperated.

“Shut up.” Ed replied as she apparently poured the 'bad' alcohol in three containers.

Ace wouldn't have paid any attention to that if Sabo's breath hadn't hitched and his eyes hadn't moved to stare at whatever was behind the 2nd Division Commander's back.

But since he did, Ace was compelled to turn his head enough to look and froze at the sight. Three red ceremonial sake cups and a green bottle. 

_“Oh, you stole that from Dadan.”_

_“Did you guys know? If you exchange cups of sake, you can become brothers.”_

_“Brothers? Really?!”_

_“From this day on, we'll be brothers!”_

_Clink._

Ace swallowed thickly but didn't say anything when a pair of gloved hands grabbed his arms and he felt tears on his chest. He did let go of the kravat as his other brother shook with sobs.

“ _I'm sorry_.”

The apology was choked and all anger Ace might have still felt melted away. Sabo might have been the more mature out of the three when they were kids, but Ace was still the eldest. It was the job of the eldest to take care of the younger ones, no matter how much trouble they caused or got into.

The Ouroboros Pirates and the Straw Hats had vacated the kitchen to give the three brothers some space. Ed and Al discreetly bumped fists. Mission complete, now on to phase two. Or, more accurately: “Mission Fuck Teach Sideways (Not Literally)”

It was a very serious operation. Which was why it needed a humorous name to balance it out. This was Marshall D. Teach's unofficial execution they were talking about. They were gonna make sure the bastard _stayed_ dead. All sorts of precautions were in place, they only needed to reach Jaya at least at the same time as the Straw Hats, preferably before so they had time to prepare.

Al glanced sideways at her elder sister “Yay or nay?”

Ed hummed, tapping her lips “Nay. We should get going. We got nothing to do here.”

The Ouroboros nodded, understanding what wasn't being said, while the Straw Hats, those who were listening anyway, just took it as them being Pirates and thus not caring for Alabasta. This, of course, wasn't true, but _they_ didn't need to know that.

In the end, Sabo didn't mind going with the Straw Hats even though the Ouroboros had promised to take him the entire way. The blond man kept his word and gave them Dragon's Den Den Mushi number even as he admitted Koala had yelled at him for promising it to them, though apparently, Dragon hadn't minded. Of course, they had also given them the number to their other Den Den Mushi, the one that wasn't used for people to call “The Informant”.

With this, the two crews plus extras bid each other goodbye and parted ways. The Going Merry towards the end of a war and The Truth towards the prevention of a war. Only one crew knew how similar their goals were, but they were not going to share.

Ed straightened her hat as she faced the horizon, a determined glint in her eyes.

_Time to kill a bitch._


	6. ...send him down to the depths below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... make that bastard walk the plank  
>  with a bottle of rum and a Yo Ho Ho  
> \- Alestorm, [Keelhauled](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-Z_psXODw)
> 
> Ed acts like her namesake by using his insults, not that calling Teach a Third-Rate is wrong, per se.

The winds were in their favour, never mind the storms they came across, as they reached Jaya in good time. This was a good thing, but it also meant they had to wait. Sure, if Teach was there already, they _could_ , in theory, kill him then and there.

However... Al had different plans, which no one could find any real fault in, and Ed was just vindictive like that. She wanted to plan his death... thoroughly. It was quite disturbing to witness, even if the others pitched in their own opinions and ideas. Their involvement was more abstract than Ed's... plotting.

Finally, the plan was implemented a little before the Strawhats arrived. That is, following Teach around until Al gave them the signal, upon which they would descend like vultures. The crew did wonder whether or not Ace and Sabo were still sailing together on the Going Merry or not. It was hard to predict, but at least one thing stayed the same.

Marshall D. Teach was in town.

And he still had no taste buds to speak of.

Honestly, there was a lot wrong in that guy's head. It was just too bad that he also could make great speeches.

Well... it was time to put him in his place, the Ouroboros Captain mused as she approached the fat man with missing teeth from behind, ignoring the people staring at her.

“Let them laugh! Anyone who wants to be a first-rate man, will encounter a time when there's no need to fight back!”

Ed sneered as she heard those words, coming to a stop behind his back, drawing two pistols loaded with special bullets just for this encounter.

“Nice speech, bruh,” she mocked, raising her hands and aiming “it's just too bad you're no _first-rate man_ , isn't it? _Teach_.”

With this, she fired at the man's shoulders, shattering the bones there. This was only possible due to the fact that her crew was loaded up on sea-stone bullets of all shapes and sizes. All thanks to the joint efforts of Lisa and Jonas.

The pathetic excuse of a man screamed in pain as he pitched forward, unable to move his arms. The three Strawhats looked dumbfounded at what appeared to be an unprovoked attack.

Ed looked down in disdain before calling “Shatter his knees, we don't want him escaping!”

At this point, Leo jumped down right on top of Teach with a loud crunch, destroying the bones in the man's shins.

Ed cocked her head and morbidly quipped “That works.”

That was the point where Luffy recognized them “Ah, you're Ace's friends! The snake guys!”

The remaining Ouroboros that emerged from the crowd sweatdropped as Lisa took out the sea-stone shackles and clipped them around Blackbeard's wrists before handing the attached chain to Jonas.

Al was the one to speak up “Ouroboros, actually, and it's a winged serpent, not a snake, Luffy.”

Teach chose that moment to speak “Who the hell are you people? I ain't never met you before!”

Ed smirked as she strode forward, kicking the man in his side “I'd tell you to stand up, third-rate, but you're a little inhibited. I'll show you the difference in our skill, Nakama-killer.”

Luffy, Zoro and Nami took a step back, the two men's expressions stony while Nami's was horrified. At the same time, anyone thinking to interfere decided not to. Killing Nakama was serious even for people not as close as the Strawhats or the Ouroboros.

“He killed a crewmemeber?”

Luffy's voice was devoid of any real emotion, disliking the man very much and not in the playful way food-rivalry went. This was serious. Very serious.

Ed snorted “Yeah, for a Devil Fruit no less. Pathetic coward. The man he killed was ten times the man he'll ever be, not that that says much, _third-rate_.” she emphasized as she ground her heel into the maggot's back, before looking up “Oh right, Mugiwara, where's your brother? The not-blond one?”

Luffy blinked “He and Sabo went somewhere, they said they'd be back in a few hours.”

Ed smiled and clasped her hands together, bringing them up to the side of her chin, in any other situation she would have looked endearing instead of psychotic “When they return, why don't you guys come over to our ship, we have a gift for the hothead.”

Luffy agreed and the Ouroboros turned towards their ship, dragging the bleeding traitor behind them.

“What are you planning to do to him?” Zoro called after them.

Edwina stopped and turned round while the others continued, looking at Zoro, before turning her eyes upwards, then turning to face them completely, a hand on her hip and the other at her side, elbow bent, fingers splayed and shoulders hunched, a devious grin on her face.

She then started to sing.

“My friends I stand before you  
To tell a truth most dire  
There lurks a traitor in our midst  
Who hath invoked the captain's ire

He don't deserve no mercy  
We ought to shoot him with a gun  
But I am not an evil man  
So first let's have a little fun”

Her grin was downright creepy as she sang for no apparent reason while she answered Zoro's inquiry, the next part told them all they needed to know.

“We'll tie that scoundrel to a rope  
And throw him overboard  
Drag him underneath the ship  
A terrifying deadly trip

Keelhaul that filthy landlubber  
Send him down to the depths below  
Make that bastard walk the plank  
With a bottle of rum and a yo ho ho”

If the bastard had eaten that Devil Fruit he'd killed his Nakama for, then that was a very cruel and unusual punishment... this crew was scary.

The three Strawhats were silent as they returned to the Going Merry, the Ouroboros Captain having vanished after answering the question.

“My big brother has scary friends.” was the blunt realization of Luffy after a few minutes of silence.

Nami and Zoro couldn't help but agree.

Ace eyed the ship in front of them, along with the gangplank that was stained with blood. He then turned to look at his little brother and his crew while Sabo poked the plank with the toe of his well-maintained boot.

“Are you sure they said 'keelhaul'?”

The three that had been present nodded, even as Luffy asked “What's a 'keelhaul'?”

Nami grew irritated “You don't know what keelhaul means even though you said they were scary?!”

“But they we~re...”

Sabo sighed “It's when you drag someone under the keel of the ship, it's very brutal and if this person is a Devil Fruit user? Very cruel. It usually leaves the victim with flayed skin depending on how many times it's done. Very painful.”

Luffy only seemed slightly disturbed, probably because, if anything else, he knew he himself got weak in sea water. Bless the little idiot, Ace hoped he'd never change.

That being said, Ace sighed and stepped onto the slightly wobbly length of wood “Let's just go already.”

They were greeted by the sight of Edwina beating the crap out of a punching bag, Liza looking over the other side of the ship, Alexia balancing on the railing on that same side, Jim going through katas and the others nowhere to be seen.

“Hi.” Ace called out, waving.

Everyone on deck snapped their heads in his direction and big smiles bloomed on their faces “Ace! Good! We've got a surprise for ya!” Ed exclaimed before turning towards the doors that led to the infirmary and mess hall “Jonas! Get up here and haul!”

“Aye, aye, Cap'n.” was the exasperated response.

Ed, meanwhile slung her arm over Ace's shoulder, forcing him to bend slightly since she was shorter than him “I know we sort of missed all your birthdays these past three years, not that you even gave us your birthday, but I figured better late than never.”

With this, the soaking wet and bloody body on Marshall D. Teach was dumped in front of the Second Division Commander, Al even going so far as to plant a pretty pink bow to Teach's head.

“Happy belated three birthdays, Ace! One Whitebeard traitor! We even gift-wrapped him for you!”

Ace, and everyone behind him, stared.

“You... keelhauled him?” The Fire Logia asked.

“Yup!”

“Even though you knew he ate a Devil Fruit?”

“What's your point?”

Ace wore a deadpan expression and plainly said “You're insane.” to the brown-haired Captain's face.

Ed opened her mouth, paused, closed it and tilted her head, her brows furrowed “A little?”

Sabo facepalmed in the background as Al patted him on the shoulder “There there, you get used to it.”

“I don't _want to_ get used to it.” the blond whined.

“Well, too bad.”


	7. Den Den calls and life jackets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ace, having to call for his dad to pick him up like a little kid...  
> Well, it wouldn't be so humiliating if Ed wasn't adamant about cramming him into a life jacket while on the Mushi.

It took Ace exactly one moment to decide that if he tried to drag the traitor to the Moby with Striker, then the man would die before he was even halfway to Fishman Island and would thus escape punishment. With that said, he returned to Merry to fetch his bag, before coming back to make his Den Den Mushi call.

Of course, before that he'd given Luffy his Vivre Card and told him that this was where their way parted. Luffy had been understandably upset, but bounced back immediately once Alexia decided to explain the exact functions of the piece of paper Ace had handed to him. Sabo had not looked impressed when it was obvious Ace had no intention of giving him one, but let it go and instead sat back to watch the show, since he too, decided to part ways with their little brother here. He had no intention of going to Sky Island either.

Before his little brother and his crew could leave, however, Al gave Luffy a package and told him to keep it safe no matter what, just in case he ever needed it. Once they'd left, Ace asked what it contained.

“Oh, just a Den Den Mushi, along with a White Den Den Mushi, instructions on how to use them and a black book with some numbers and room to write down more if they receive them.” Ed had said while waving off his worries, before grinning and sitting down, obviously wanting to watch gleefully as he made what would probably be one of the most awkward calls of his life.

_Fun._

With a sigh, Ace dialed a number he knew by heart by now and waited for someone to pick up.

“ _ **Moshi Moshi?**_ ”

Ace was more relieved than he'd ever admit to hear Marco's voice and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind “I need you to come pick me up.”

It was rather embarrassing how much he sounded like a little kid calling their parents to come pick them up from school or whatever.

The Den Den Mushi's eyes widened from their half-lidded state “ _ **Ace-yoi? Where are you? Are you injured?**_ ”

Ace grimaced and rubbed his neck “No... I'm just stuck and I need you to come pick me up...”

Marco seemed to calm down at that even as they all heard the sound of footsteps “ _ **So you finally got some sense into your head and stopped pursuing Teach?**_ ”

Marco sounded hopeful, but Ace crushed that notion quickly “Oh, no, not at all. I've received Teach but there's no humanly possible way for me to cart him back to the New World alive.”

There was the sound of a door opening “ _ **What do you mean 'received', yoi?**_ ”

Ace sighed long-sufferingly as the younger members of the Ourobooros Pirates, Captain included, snickered in the background “You don't _wanna_ know.”

“ _ **So where should we pick you up from?**_ ”

Ace frowned at that and craned his neck to look at Ed, who suppressed her humor and said “Banaro, we need to head to Water 7 anyways and it'll pass the time.”

Ace nodded and turned back to the Den Den which was now looking suspicious “Think you can find Banaro?”

“ _ **...Yes... who was that, yoi?**_ ”

Ed stepped forward, leaning her arm on Ace's shoulder, the ravenette rolling his eyes but accommodating her by turning the Den Den to face her “Hello there, Marco the Phoenix. I am Edwina, Captain of this stinkin' tub that's playing ferry for your hothead little brother.”

Ace looked affronted at that “Hey!”

Ed swatted him lightly “Drowning hazards don't get a say. Speaking of which, put on the life jacket, Portgas.”

Ace looked appalled “No!”

“You will put on that life jacket and tether yourself to the ship, Portgas, or so help me.”

“No! Why do I need to do that?”

“My boat, my rules!”

“Hell no!”

“Get back here!”

The poor Den Den Mushi fell to the floor as Ace sprinted away, Ed following closely. Suddenly another voice rang from it.

“ _ **Gurararara... was that Ace's voice I heard?**_ ”

Al bent down to pick up the snail as Marco answered with an affirmative “Sorry about that, my sister is adamant about upholding the rules of the ship.”

“ _ **Who is this?**_ ”

“Ah, my apologies, Whitebeard, sir. This is the First Mate of the Ouroboros Pirates and unfortunately the younger sister of our dear captain who is... cramming your son into a life jacket against his will...”

they could all hear the strangled noises coming from the man, even as Al continued “Don't worry, she's not trying to kill him... she's just been wanting to do that for ages.”

“ _ **May I ask why your Captain is forcing my son to wear a life jacket?**_ ”

“My ship, my rules!” came the distant yell from the Ouroboros Captain.

Al cleared her throat “'Should a member have been foolhardy enough to have eaten a Devil Fruit, they must always be found wearing a life-jacket so long as they sail with the Crew.' Essentially, so long as Ace sails with us, he must wear a life jacket. No exceptions.”

At this, Ace could be heard practically wailing “I'm not even part of your crew!”

To which Ed replied “Suck it up, boy! Be a man!”

Al sighed “I apologize for my sister, she gets... strange, when deprived of the things she likes. In this case, that would be Ace, since we haven't seen him in a while and the brief meet-up was not nearly enough to sate her... _needs_ , let's say.”

“ _ **Your sister sounds... interesting.**_ ” Was the diplomatic reply from the Phoenix.

To this, Alexia just snorted “You mean: 'She's speshul'.”

“ _ **... yes. That.**_ ”

“You get used to it.”

“ _ **I am unsure if I want to.**_ ”

“That's what I said!” Sabo exclaimed finally, throwing his hands in the air.

“ _ **Who is that?**_ ” Marco inquired.

“He's a pest we can't seem to get rid of.” Al playfully deadpanned.

“How rude, Miss Alexia, that is not what you said when we met.”

“When we met you were a mystery for me to solve. Sadly, you're no longer interesting, my dear COS.”

“I am hurt, truly, I am.”

“Suck it up.”

“ _ **Gurararara, my son sure has found interesting company during his time away...**_ ”

That had been a week ago. During that time they had stopped by Water 7, modified their ship some more, acquired supplies for even more modifications and other miscellaneous things before setting up at Banaro, all the while keeping Blackbeard barely alive and firmly submerged to his neck in sea-water. They were not taking any chances from what Ace and Sabo could see and while Ace approved, even if he was just a little creeped out by it, Sabo wasn't as accepting. However, he refrained from commenting and instead told his own comrades horror stories of the things he'd been witnessing onboard the Truth. From what anyone could tell, it seemed Dragon was amused, if anything.

Ace had no trouble believing that Sabo still had trouble getting used to the random singing. Ace, on the other hand, loved it. He was sure Luffy would _absolutely love it_ , since he'd always insisted that he _had_ to have a musician on the crew. What was better, Ace could annoy his other younger brother by making it a game to see just how many different kinds of songs the crew knew. He would sometimes yell at them to sing a song about something random.

Best part? They _always_ delivered. Ace had yet to come up with anything they didn't have a song for, and that wasn't even mentioning the ones that apparently had coreographed dance moves attached.

Watching Sabo repeatedly look like he was about to tear his hair out, jump into the ocean or just smack the crew with his pipe was hilarious and Ace was enjoying every moment.

Of course, that was before Sabo had come up with the idea of retaliating in the same way. Jim had called it a “Musical standoff”. Ace wasn't sure why the rest of the crew had found it so funny. The term still set them off whenever someone mumbled it within earshot.

He dreaded the moment the two crews would meet, while another part was giddy to witness the reactions. This was going to either be horrible, or funny as hell. Spotting the Moby in the distance, the Fire Logia braced himself for the inevitable.


	8. Oh, Sanity, why hast thou forsaken me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco is the first to board _The Truth_.  
>  He also immediately wants to leave.  
> He did not sign up for this new brand of crazy.

Marco refused to admit that he was fidgeting, no matter what anyone said. So what if he was worried, they all had been, ever since Ace left. To finally hear from him had put a lot of them at ease, but Marco was still stuck on these people whom Ace seemed to know. What were they like? Why were they so familiar with him? Did Ace know them from before he'd joined the crew? If so, why hadn't he ever even mentioned them? Even the previous Spade Pirates had been wondering about this new crew. 

There was a single Pirate ship docked. Marco couldn't say he recognized the flag- no wait, they'd raided Logue Town, hadn't they? Whatever, they were still pretty insignificant. Question was, how did Ace know them? The Phoenix saw a brief flash from the much smaller ship's crow's nest before a faint: 'Ace's nakama! Ace's nakama are here! Where's the Captain?' rang across the water, followed immediately by an equally faint: 'I _was_ napping, thank you very _much_ , Liz!'

This was also when Marco spotted a dot orange on the deck, which could only be Ace, even if his figure was a little off. The First Division Commanded could wait no longer as he leapt off and transformed into his Zoan form, heading for the boat. It took no time at all before he transformed back and landed.

There he was. Leaning against the railing, looking at Marco with an unsure smile. Wearing a life-jacket. It seemed the crew's First Mate hadn't been joking. Still, it wasn't exactly a bad design. It was fairly thin and designed in a way that gave the wearer a lot of room to move, but it seemed to be fastened in a way that it would be impossible to casually slip out of it. The pattern was nice, too. Orange flames over black, with the small crew's Jolly Roger on the right breast, thought there seemed to be a round capsule of some sort attached on the opposite side.

Still... “What the hell are you wearing, yoi?” Marco asked, wanting to tease.

Because no matter how cool it looked, it was still a life-jacket.

The expected frown formed in seconds as Ace crossed his arms “You're laughing now, but when I next fall in you'll be glad no one has to actually dive after me, only haul me up.”

That shut Marco up pretty quickly, before he realized his fellow commander had to be speaking from experience, because there was no way he'd immediately accepted the fact he was forced to wear it.

These thoughts must have shown on his face, because the Logia in front of him frowned even darker “Shut up.”

That done, Marco cast his eyes over the deck as a few people emerged from either below deck or in the case of one, jumped down from the crow's nest “Where's Teach, yoi?”

“Containment unit.” came the prompt answer from a familiar voice, which originated from a brunette wearing a tricorn hat.

A blond man wearing a top hat sputtered “Conainment- You attached him to a flotation device and submerged him behind the ship in the water!”

The Captain of the small crew nodded sagely “Like I said, containment unit.”

The blond let out a sound of pure despair, tugging at his wavy hair as he spun to face Ace “Ace! Do something!”

Said pirate shrugged “Sorry, Sab, but you should know by now that they do what they want. Besides, I'm used to it.”

'Sab' despaired further “No-ho-hoooo I don't want to get used to iiiiit! They'll corrupt Luffy!”

Ace snorted “They've barely interacted, I doubt they'll rub off on him from three hours of exposure.”

“They gave him a Den Den Mushi! At some point they're gonna call him!”

There was a beat of silence before Ace broke it “Well, fuck.”

The brunette rolled her eyes “Relax, Ace, Sabo. Your little brother gets into enough shenanigans without my help.”

“THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING!” came the in-unison reply from Ace and the newly-identified Sabo.

Marco latched on to the implications “Brother?” he asked, looking at the blond.

Sabo blinked at him before Ace spoke up “Ah, yeah, Marco, meet my other brother, Sabo. We thought he'd been killed by a World Noble ten years ago.”

The Phoenix narrowed his eyes “And he came back _now_?” he asked, all too suspicious.

Sabo looked sheepish “Ah, the incident left me with no memories, so I didn't know there was anyone mourning me. All I knew was that I... I didn't want to go home.”

His brother snorted “With parents like those? I don't blame ya.”

It appeared he had nothing to worry about. Good. Everyone had been on edge after the actions of Teach.

Speaking of which “How did you even manage to catch him? What does that fruit even do?”

Ace opened his mouth, before closing it, looking confused. He then turned to the Captain “How _did_ you guys capture him? I mean, I know it was on Jaya, but Luffy was never clear about what happened, exactly.”

Marco turned his sharp gaze to the woman. So, it hadn't been Ace who caught the traitor. At least that explained the “received” part of Ace's call.

The woman shrugged, cocking her head “Well, we knew he was a Fruit user and that it had to be insanely powerful, so we did what any intelligent person would do. Shot him in the back.”

All three outsiders scrunched up their eyebrows, but the woman continued before they could voice any questions “Sea stone bullets are a great thing to have, especially in case of Logias. We then broke his legs, cuffed him with sea stone and dragged him to the ship so that we could keelhaul the Third-rate.”

Marco winced. That- that was cruel. He didn't understand why they'd done it.

“Why, yoi?”

The Captain turned to him, her arms crossed “Because he made my sister cry. He made my sister cry and he would have done much worse than just stab a crew mate in the back if we let him escape.” there was a beat of silence “Also, I hate him, so there's that.”

Had Marco been any less experienced and put together, he would have face-faulted. As it was, only a sweatdrop formed, while his face remained stoic “I see.” no he didn't.

The Captain smiled sardonically “No you don't. Don't worry, you'll get there.”

Sabo was shaking his head and hands, mouthing “No” over and over again, making the older blond fear for his sanity, the little bit that remained.

It didn't help that the Captain said “Shut up, blue.” without even having to look at the scarred man.

The conversation ended with Sabo wandering off, tears streaming comically down his face.

Marco suddenly wanted to leave, fearing being infected by the new brand of crazy he seemed to have encountered.


	9. Meeting a Yonko and other ordinary stuff (since when is this normal?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teach gets delivered and Ed has a talk with her colleague.  
> Al shows off her talents.

Ace was enjoying Marco's pain all too much, he knew. But it was hilarious to see the man bamboozled by a crew he had no hope of having known about beforehand. Even Ace didn't really understand how they didn't have higher bounties, but he'd realized long ago that the Ouroboros were not normal.

This was emphasized by the fact that, _somehow_ , at some point, in some way, 'Lexia had shoved _Marco_ into his own specialized life-jacket. This one didn't have a front, instead it was attached to the man's back like a backpack, with straps going around his stomach and around his shoulders, under his arms. At least Marco could hide it under his jacket, mostly, and it didn't obscure his Whitebeard tattoo. Oh well, at least they'd printed the Whitebeard Jolly Roger on the back of his life-jacket, otherwise Ace would have been a lot grumpier.

And this all had happened _before_ the Moby was close enough to dock.

When the Moby _did_ dock, Edwina thought it would be a great idea to yell: “Where do you want your traitor!?” at Oyaji at the top of her lungs, hands cupped on either side of her mouth.

Suffice to say, Ace wasn't the only one to facepalm at that. At least Oyaji was amused, if the 'Gurarara's' were anything to go by.

“How is my son? You better not have damaged him too badly.”

The brunette snorted “Ace is fine! He's used to us by now! Can't guarantee anything for the bird, though!”

It really was a strange contrast, realizing Oyaji didn't have to raise his voice to be heard, while Edwina's voice would be swallowed up by the water lapping against the ships if she didn't yell. And yet the woman didn't seem as intimidated as she probably should be. Even _Sabo_ looked cowed. Then again, the blond had always been the smartest of them when they were kids.

Then again, the idiot had _also_ decided to leave port when a World Noble was visiting, so Ace wasn't sure he could be called that anymore.

“Maybe we should continue this discussion on the shore!”

“Gurarara, fine, brat. Bring the traitor with you, would you?”

“You got it! Oy, Jonas! Haul!”

Ace decided discretion was the better part of valor and used the gangplank to get off the ship and onto land, where he was promptly glomped by many of his brothers from the Moby. He looked up from the gaggle of happy pirates surrounding him when the shadow of his father blocked out the sun. Before he had a chance to speak, however, the wet and bleeding Teach was dumped not far from them.

“Here you go! One murderous fuck at your mercy!” 'Wina exclaimed, still much, much too chipper about the entire thing. 

Ace only sighed in exasperation, knowing fully well there was nothing to be done about it. 'Wina was 'Wina, you could only go along with her shenanigans. Unless you were 'Lexia. 'Lexia could always stop everyone on the crew from doing stuff. Too bad she hardly ever used her power over them. Then again, she could be just as unhinged as her sister, as evidence by her shoving Marco into a life jacket. That the man was still wearing. Ace had to keep himself from snickering. Apparently, the big bad Whitebeard Commander was suitably cowed into not getting rid of it while in the presence of the people responsible for making it. He'd never let the man live this down. 

Ace shook his head as he disentangled himself from his family, jerking his thumb at his crazy friend “Oyaji, meet 'Wina, 'Wina, meet Oyaji. 'Wina is... unfortunately... an old friend of mine and Captain of the Ouroboros Pirates. 'Wina... I'm pretty sure you know who Oyaji is.” the logia ended in a deadpan, leveling a stare at the woman as if saying she'd be judged if she didn't.

The brunette scoffed “Oh, believe me, I know.” she assured him, rolling her eyes “Al made _plenty sure_ of _that._ ” she finished drolly.

'Lexia swayed on her feet, shrugging as the raven's attention focused on her “What can I say? I'm good at what I do.”

Sabo was the next to speak “Under. Statement. Of the _year._ ”

The Ouroboros First Mate grinned cheekily at him, causing Ace to sigh in amusement and exasperation. They really hadn't changed at all, had they? He'd been distracted by his brother, the discovery that Sabo was alive and the capture of Teach, that he hadn't really paid the crew as much attention as he should have.

“Gurarara, it seems my son has dependable friends... Marco told me you were the ones to apprehend the traitor?”

Marcus snorted from the back, chewing on a toothpick “'Apprehended', sure, let's go with that.”

“Oh, shush.” Ed admonished playfully, waving a hand in his direction.

The man only smirked further, his eyes shadowed by the bandanna covering his head and keeping his hair out of his face “Aye, aye, _Cap'n._ ”

Their interactions were funny and Ace smiled. He could admit he'd missed this. He'd missed this a lot.

Ed decided to get back on track “Yeah, I know, technically, that we should have left his capture to your crew, but... well, I'm not really known for letting go of things and Teach? Teach made it onto my list.” the brunette quietened, crossing her arms “And if what Al's told me is true... then there was no way I could leave it to Ace, no matter how good of a fighter he is.”

Oyaji looked grave at that, and sat down. He sensed this would be a long discussion, or at least serious enough that he should sit.

Edwina followed suit as Teach was dragged groaning off to the side, before the entire Ouroboros followed their Captain's example and sat around and behind her, her sister to her immediate right.

Newgate rumbled “Elaborate.” as everyone settled down.

Edwina barely twitched, but Alexia must have seen something, because a moment later they were holding hands, their grip tight enough to hurt. No one commented.

Instead of the Captain, Al was the one who started speaking “Marshall D. Teach. Former Whitebeard, current Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, Devil Fruit: Yami Yami no Mi, type... Logia.” her voice wavered at the last part before she paused, clenching her teeth, but continuing anyway “Arguably the most powerful Devil Fruit currently known. Unlike normal Logia, Teach can't go intangible... but what he can do, is cancel out DF powers through touch.” she raised her head, looking straight at Ace “A logia's best defense becomes _nothing_. The Yami Yami no Mi makes the consumer essentially a black hole. He can absorb anything... even other people's Devil Fruits.”

The slow realization of what that meant caused many to pale or turn green. Ace realized pretty quickly what could have happened if he'd fought Teach with no knowledge of how his powers worked.

Al looked away as she continued “From what I gathered, Teach was planning on becoming a Warlord. The easiest way for him to achieve that is to hand over a notorious pirate... there's currently one pirate that is climbing to the top of the government's shit-list. All he'd have to do is wait for the next rise in bounties and capture him, using the element of surprise he'd get from having established a somewhat friendly basis... or he would have, had we not interfered.” her eyes focused on Ace and Sabo “He singled Luffy out. He had no reason to do so, other than catch him off guard later.”

Ace sat down with a thump, covering the lower half of his face in horror.

But Al wasn't finished “But, suppose you had caught up to him before he went after Luffy. Suppose he mentioned his plan to you. We both know how you'd react... and who'd win in a fight where you had no knowledge of the Yami Yami powers.”

Ace started shaking, realizing exactly what she was saying and knowing it would be much worse than she thought “He would have left Luffy alone... and instead given the Marines me. Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander would be a lot more impressive.” the fire logia hoarsely said, while privately thinking the rest of the scenario through.

Because the Marines would definitely find out his parentage... and everything would go to hell. They wouldn't be satisfied with his imprisonment, it would be-

“An execution.”

Everyone whipped to face Sabo, standing pale by the side “If you hadn't caught Teach... this whole thing would have ended with Ace's execution.” the blond said in horror.

There was a silence as they all digested that information, before Ed spoke again “And thus, Teach had to die. But I am not completely heartless, so I left that to you, Whitebeard. I thought you'd want to decide yourself his final fate, but I needed to get my revenge in.” she looked straight into the Yonko's eyes “No one threatens mine without suffering.”

Oyaji raised an eyebrow “And you say Ace is yours?”

The Ouroboros all grinned in unison “Whether he likes it or not.” they choroused.

Ace deadpanned “Fuck you.”

“No.”

“Gurararara...”

**Author's Note:**

> Character profiles, if anyone wants them.
> 
> Edwina 25, brunette, light brown eyes, 165 cm.  
> Freerunning, parkour, gymnast, krav maga.  
> Captain
> 
> Alex 20, brunette, hazel eyes, 150 cm, slim.  
> Kickboxing, parkour, gymnast and aikido.  
> First Mate.
> 
> Lisa 24 Blond, blue eyes, 175 cm.  
> Amateur gymnast, swimmer.  
> Sniper.
> 
> Jim 28 ravenette, blue eyes, 170 cm, muscled.  
> Karate (black belt), freerunning, kendo and judo.  
> Swordsman.
> 
> Jonas 33, blond, green eyes, 200 cm, wide & muscled.  
> Streetfighter, rock-climber.  
> Inventor.
> 
> Leo 29, ginger, dark brown eyes, 172 cm, slim swimmer's build.  
> Judo, swimmer, runner.  
> Doctor.
> 
> Marcus 27, light brown hair, hazel eyes, 171 cm, runner's build.  
> Best swimmer and diver among the crew, parkour, runner.  
> Cook.
> 
> Fanart by Secretuncle on tumblr:  
> Ed: [here ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/9633d21dc72c729c586bc5f72bed5944/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo1_1280.jpg)  
> Al: [here](https://78.media.tumblr.com/2639a5b9148703056a476112f605b45e/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo2_1280.jpg)  
> Lisa: [here](https://78.media.tumblr.com/44b002ea765f79c45db8623b1b85ef88/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo3_1280.jpg)  
> Jim: [here](https://78.media.tumblr.com/0957b88bd79189ec66541f3914d0ce57/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo4_1280.jpg)  
> Jonas: [here](https://78.media.tumblr.com/7f60e58a25844d47b0ee6b00e222185d/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo5_1280.jpg)  
> Leo: [here](https://78.media.tumblr.com/b49bf69ab002bf38dc5af706e6f2fc57/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo6_1280.jpg)  
> Marc: [here](https://78.media.tumblr.com/15bcb0edd755b28f920c251fd1abd710/tumblr_p5litmjU441wxewzuo7_1280.jpg)


End file.
